How to Setup Proxy in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE and Safari Browsers?

On one hand, people fight for open internet, however on other hand there are good reasons for blocking the access. Many schools, educational institutions and organizations block access to specific websites that shows explicit and vulgar content. Unfortunately, it does not stop there; they also block social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In such case, for good reasons you can use VPN or proxy for unblocking the sites anonymously.

Using VPN

In our earlier article, we have explained how to connect VPN in Windows 10. We highly recommend using reliable VPNs like ExpressVPN to browse safely and securely. However, you may need premium account for using the reliable VPNs with no logging and secured connection. This may not be possible for those who simply wanted to unblock social sites. In addition, your school or organization may also restrict adding VPN profiles and block VPN server’s IP addresses.

In all such
cases, the workable and alternate solution is to go for a proxy.

What is Proxy?

Proxy works
similar to VPN to bypass the internet connection through different servers. The
advantage of proxy is that you can configure script URL or server IP/port in
computer’s settings instead of using a separate app or profile. If one proxy is
not working, you can try hundreds of free and premium proxies available on the
web.

How to Setup Proxy in Your Browser?

Depending on
the browser you use, there are two ways to setup proxy. Google Chrome, Edge and
Internet Explorer uses the default Windows proxy settings. This means all your
network activities will be routed through proxy server. If you do not want to
do this, choose Mozilla Firefox to configure at browser level. This will only
route the network from Firefox to go through proxy and all other network will
go through default route.

Changing Proxy in Google Chrome

Again scroll to bottom and click on “Open proxy settings” under “System” section.

Open Proxy Settings in Chrome

Change Proxy in Microsoft Edge

On Microsoft Edge, click on the three dots settings button on top right corner.

Scroll down and click on the “Settings” option.

Look for “Advanced Settings” section and click on the “View advanced settings button”.

Click on “Open proxy settings” button under “Proxy setup” section.

Open Proxy Settings in Edge

Change Proxy in Internet Explorer

If you still use Internet Explorer,
click on the gear icon nearer to the top right corner.

Select “Internet Options” and go to
“Connection” tab on the pop-up.

Open Internet Options from IE

Setup Proxy in Firefox

Go to “about:preferences” URL in Firefox address bar and scroll down to the “Network Settings” option under “General” tab.

Click on the “Settings…” button that shows against the “Network Settings”.

Unlike other browsers, Firefox offers built-in proxy settings. Auto-detect and system proxy settings will use the proxy from “Internet Options” settings.

If you have a manual configuration URL enable the option “Manual proxy configuration” and type the HTTP / SSL / FTP / SOCKS proxy with the relevant port number.

Enable “Automatic proxy configuration URL” option to enter the configuration script that works for all protocols. You can also provide exceptions in the “No proxy for” text box.

As mentioned, the configuration URL settings will only work inside Firefox browser. This is an ideal option when you can install Firefox on your computer. Because you can use Firefox for unblocking websites and use Edge or Chrome for using school or organization’s network.

Setup Proxy in Mozilla Firefox

Setup Proxy Servers in Windows 10

As you can
see, Windows 10 allows changing the proxy in two places. One in Internet Options
pop-up that opens from IE and Chrome. Other is in Settings app that opens
through Edge browser. However, changing the proxy in one place will
automatically change in other place also.

Change Proxy in Internet Options

When you are
in “Internet Option” dialog, go to “Connections” tab. Click on the “LAN settings”
button.

LAN Settings in Windows 10

Follow the
below steps to properly setup proxy:

Disable “Automatically detect
settings” checkbox.

If you have proxy script URL, enter
it in the address text box after enabling “Use automatic configuration script”
option.

If you have a proxy server IP and
port then enable “Use proxy server for your LAN” checkbox and enter the server
IP / port. You can exclude the local addresses like intranet URLs to skip proxy
and use default network settings. Enable the “Bypass proxy server for local
addresses” option and click on “Advanced” button. Type the local addresses in
the exceptions.

Change Proxy in Windows 10

Change Proxy in Windows Settings App

When you are in the Settings app (from Edge), you can see similar proxy options available under “Proxy” section. You can disable the automatically detect settings option and use script or manual proxy setup as explained above.

Setup Proxy in Windows Settings App

Change Proxy in macOS

You can access the network preferences in Mac using the
following two ways.

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